News from the New York State and Local Retirement System

Monthly Archives: December 2016

Where did you go? Not far, it turns out. Seventy-eight percent of NYSLRS retirees and beneficiaries stay in New York State. However, the rest have made homes around the country and even around the world.

It’s all about becoming vested, earning enough service credit to qualify for a pension benefit — even if you leave public employment. We went through the ins and outs of becoming vested for members of both the Employees’ Retirement System (ERS) and the Police and Fire Retirement System (PFRS).

You won’t need to pay New York State or local taxes on your NYSLRS retirement benefit, but other states and federal income tax are another matter. We gave members and retirees some insight into federal tax withholding and the 1099-R form.

A solid lead up to retirement is essential, but picking the right retirement date is important too. We gave members some tips about when to submit their applications, how to pick a date and what their first benefit payments will look like.

NYSLRS members are spread out over two systems, six tiers and 346 retirement plan combinations. It can be easy for information to get jumbled between coworkers and between plans. So, we cleared up some common misconceptions we’ve heard from members and retirees over the years. This is an entry in our Retirement Myths series.

The better you understand your road to retirement, the better you can plan for it. We took a look at the journey for Tier 3 and 4 ERS members and pointed out several retirement benefit milestones they’ll pass along the way. We also took a look at Tier 5 and Tier 6 member milestone, too.

Retroactive payments are lump sum payments you receive from your employer. These can be from newly negotiated union contracts, like the one ratified on December 14 by Public Employees Federation (PEF) union members. Retroactive payments can also be from arbitration awards or legal settlements.

Your final average salary (FAS) is a major factor in your pension benefit calculation. Your FAS is the average of your three (five for Tier 6 members) highest consecutive years of earnings. How do retroactive payments affect your final average salary?

How Retroactive Payments Can Affect Your Benefit

When we calculate your FAS at retirement, retroactive payments are applied to the pay periods when they were earned, not when they were paid. In general, retroactive payments can increase your FAS as long as the time period in which you earned that money is part of your FAS.

For example, state employees who are members of PEF received a retroactive payment this month for salary earned since April 1, 2016. If you are one of these PEF members, we would apply the lump sum payment over the time frame when it was earned (State fiscal year April 1, 2016 through March 31, 2017). If that State fiscal year falls within your highest three (five for Tier 6) consecutive years of earnings, the retroactive payment you received in March should increase your FAS.

Your employer should let us know if you receive a retroactive payment before or after you retire. If you are a State employee who received a PEF retroactive payment after you retired, we will recalculate your pension benefit amount automatically; you do not need to notify us. If you receive a retroactive payment from a non-state employer after your pension benefit calculation is finalized, send a letter to our Recalculation Unit in the Benefit Calculations & Disbursement Services Bureau. Please include a copy of your check stub and/or any correspondence you received from your employer. You may also email and upload this information to the Retirement System through our secure contact form.